Cold Comfort
by Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo
Summary: During the battle of Bilbringi, a Stormtrooper unit led by Major Grodin Tierce plan and prepare for a rebel task force landing on the ISD Chimaera to take the life of Grand Admiral Thrawn.


The ISD _Chimaera _shook violently as Rebel turbolasers targeted it. All around it was the chaos of battle. Behind them was the planet Bilbringi, illuminating the battle field in its orbit. Warning sirens blared across the Star Destroyer, and men ran through each other to reach their destinations.

A single Stormtrooper unit calmly walked through the crowded corridors, their weapons at ready, eyes scanning each crewer. Yelling could be heard just above the sound of weapons fire; however these men had no need to speak in order to communicate with each other. They were trained to be able to communicate using hand signals and body gestures. They were perfectly silent and orderly in the noise and chaos surrounding them.

Each man knew exactly what he was doing; and he knew that it was essential that they not fail. For the fate of the galaxy rested almost solely on their shoulders. And not one of them flinched from it.

Major Grodin Tierce lifted his hand in a fist, signaling his unit to halt. Each member did so immediately. Tierce crouched into a combat position, leaned slightly to the right, revealing only his face and E-11, and peered around the corner and into the next corridor. He looked back at his unit, held up his right hand, flat and parallel to his face, and then moved it down, pointing in the direction of the empty corridor. Each man formed back up and cautiously walked towards the turbolift at the end of it. When inside, Tierce keyed for "G" deck. The turbolift lurched slightly, and then carried the team down. With a single _ding_, letting the troopers know they arrived at their destination, the door opened and the troopers poured out. Within a few minutes, the team poured into the _Chimaera_'s hanger, E-11's at the ready. Besides the substantial number of TIE pilots and techs, it was empty of life. Tierce signaled his men to take up ambush positions around the hanger bays, and wait. Few of the pilots and techs, if any, noticed the new comers.

Tierce had been with Grand Admiral Thrawn since almost the beginning. One month after his return from the Unknown Regions, Tierce arranged to have himself transferred to the _Chimaera_, where he spent every waking moment protecting and serving the last chance the Empire had to win this war. He was always there, whether on the bridge, or with the landing parties. He was always within blaster range of the Admiral, always insuring his survival, and thus the Empires. The few times he wasn't with the Admiral the Noghri bodyguard Rukh was.

Tierce didn't know why, but he trusted the Noghri. Maybe it was the pure devotion in his eyes, the way he almost worshiped the Admiral for some unknown reason. The way Rukh watched him, watched the crew.

The Noghri was the only reason Tierce wasn't on the bridge now. Because the Admiral needed him elsewhere, and Tierce knew Thrawn would still be safe as long as the Noghri was by his side. And that gave him a small amount of comfort.

It had been perhaps half an hour, and not one of the Stormtrooper units Tierce had planted around the hanger bays has reported any Rebel forces. Tierce knew that if the Rebels were to try something, it would be now. It would be here. He had planned it through their eyes, seen what they would see. And it made perfect sense.

_Amidst the confusion and chaos of the battle around them, a small Rebel transport would sneak through the TIE's and land in one of the _Chimaera's _hanger bays. The Rebel commando's would kill the TIE pilots and whatever techs there before moving on. They would possible change into Stormtrooper armor, or perhaps they arrive in the armor. They would exit the hanger bay, and continue without suspicion, heading up to the bridge. No one would stop them, no one would question them. They would be perfectly invisible to the crewers. When they reached the bridge, they would open fire, killing the Admiral, the Captain and anyone else they could. The survivors would make their way back down to the hangers in the confusion, and escape._

Only now, Tierce knew, they would be stopped and killed. And the Empire would continue to victory.

He looked casually over at the rest of his team. All of them professionals, all of them 100% committed to the Admiral and his wellbeing. He knew that this would not be Endor. The Empire would not be killed with its leader. _He _would not let it happen. He smiled smugly inside of his helmet, daring the Rebels to try something.

Then the _Chimaera _started to pull away from the battle. Tierce could see it escape through the hanger bay shields. TIE fighters started piling to the hanger, and Tierce could see the other Star Destroyers doing the same. When the _Chimaera_ was far enough from the battle, it dropped into hyperspace and escaped. Tierce stood up from his ambush position, and the rest of his squad did as well.

"What the kriff happened?" Someone asked. The _Chimaera's_ ship intercom came on line.

"Attention crew of the _Chimaera: _The Noghri Rukh is a traitor to the Empire. He is to be killed. I repeat; the Noghri Rukh is a traitor to the Empire. He is not to be captured; he is to be killed on sight."

The voice was shaky and mournful. And Tierce knew it had nothing to do with the Empire's retreat.

Thrawn must be dead. And Rukh was the one that killed him.

Tierce had failed in his one mission. And the Empire was dead because of it.

Tierce's unit moved silently through the _Chimaera_ once more. The corridors were now empty, the few crewers they saw moved in zombie-like fashions. Everyone was in shock. No one had the full picture, but everyone assumed the worse. Tierce shoved empty crewers out of his way. He had one final mission: The death of the traitor Rukh. And he knew he must not fail.

The _Chimaera_ dropped out of hyperspace soon after to take stock of her damages and plot a course back toward the Remnant. Tierce knew that this would be the Noghri's last chance to escape. He had no chance if he waited until they were in Imperial space. Tierce position Stormtrooper units in all hanger bays, and waited.

"Major, we have movement in Bay 13, sir. It isn't one of us."

Tierce acknowledged the report and headed towards 13, but then stopped. He didn't know much about the Noghri people as a whole, except that they were lethal warriors. They had a well-earned reputation as the Empire's deadliest assassins, both in their combat skills and tactics.

It was with this thought that Tierce stopped.

If there was movement in Bay 13, Tierce knew it wasn't the Noghri. He tried to remember the bay furthest from 13, and key his radio.

"Squad, meet me in Hanger 5."

The rest of his squad, positioned in different parts of the ship, acknowledged his order.

Tierce ran towards the hanger. The turbolift he used seemed to crawl to the correct deck, and when he finally got to the hanger, it was empty. He had failed.

Again.

A noise behind him sent him into a combat-crouch. His E-11 swung from side to side, his eyes looking for the source of the noise. He found it in the gray alien that dropped somewhere from the ceiling and was walking in his direction. He hadn't seen him yet, and with any luck-

The alien looked his way, and immediately sent his knife in Tierce's direction.

Quite possibly the same knife that ended Thrawn's life.

Tierce rolled to his left, and swung his blaster back into the direction of the alien. The knife missed him by inches. The alien leapt at him, another blade in hand, when a sharp sound to Tierce's left sent it to the floor.

A Stormtrooper stood, his E-11 pointed in the direction of where the alien was. It got up, and was hit in the shoulder. Another Stormtrooper stood there. The alien eyed the troopers cautiously, realizing that it was surrounded. Tierce stood up and pointed his E-11 at the alien. He lined his sight up with the its left eye, and smiled. The alien smiled back at him.

A single shot sent it crashing to the ground. Tierce and his men continued firing into its body, sending it jerking with each shot, until it was beyond unrecognizable. They shot it out from the hanger into empty space, where they stood and watched it float aimlessly until it slowly disappeared from their sight.

Only then did they exit the hanger bay.


End file.
